Plymouth Trip, August 2024
Trip Report by Terry Maloney
Plymouth, August 2024 with In Deep
Once again our trip to Plymouth with In Deep was upon us. But for this year’s trip we had a slight change of plan from the usual concept. Due to a clerical error, we had to move from our traditional Late Summer Bank Holiday dates to the week before and also change from our usual boat, Seeker to Size Matters.
In order to try and avoid any heavy traffic we decided to travel down to Plymouth on the Thursday and dive on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, travelling home on the Monday. With one week to go, the weather watching started. I would check XC Weather every morning in the hope that we would get favourable conditions.
At the start of the week, the forecast looked less than rosy but hopefully not bad enough to stop us from going diving.
I’m always on pins before a trip as you obviously want it to go well. In particular for the members that are new to this particular trip. We had three people doing just that this year in Chris & Kate Mills plus Paul Hughes who were all looking forward to their first trip down to dive with In Deep.
The journey down was much better than usual due I suppose to it being on the Thursday and also not on the Bank Holiday weekend.
There’s always the odd straggler due mainly to work commitments. This year it was Jeff Jones who had things to sort before he could finally set off but on the upside, Steve & Gail McElroy made it down in plenty of time to get to our first pub/restaurant which was to be our traditional first night at the Clovelly Bay Inn.
I’ve written many times just how good the food is at the Clovelly and it never fails to disappoint. Everyone said that they had a perfect evening and enjoyed both their meal and the pub itself. It did empty out fairly early though which is quite unusual but the fact that the British Fireworks Championship happened to be in full swing probably had something to do with it. The skies were certainly lit up that night and boy were they loud!
Poor Jeff missed everything. He had just finished unpacking his gear only to find that everyone had gone to bed fairly early.
Friday 16th August.
Dive 1. S.S.Riversdale.
The following morning dawned and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. The weather Gods were certainly smiling down on us it seemed.
Due to the tide times, we weren’t even rushed the following morning. We had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast before getting on the boat at approximately 8.00am for a 9.30am ‘ropes off’.
Our first dive of the weekend was to be a new mark for all of us. We have our regular ‘must do’ dives such as the Maine but it’s nice to introduce something new each trip.
The Riversdale is a First World War casualty having been torpedoed by UB 31 on December 18th 1917. She is a fairly large wreck at almost one hundred metres long. She was carrying a cargo of coal at the time of her sinking. She is a wreck that needs slack water to dive on and even then the local tidal streams can run a bit.
Our skipper Ben told is that this wasn’t one of their usual marks and it was the first time for many years that they had taken anyone to it. He’s never even dived on it himself!
He dropped the shot onto the wreck and we waited for the flow to slacken off. We were all ready in plenty of time and my group of three consisting of Garry Bolland, Alan (Major) Jones and I were the first group down the line. I had the job of tying the shot line in with a waster and letting a marker pip go so that the rest of the group knew that they were good to go. On the way down, we all secured our strobes to the shot line so that it could be found easily when we needed to. I completed my task and then got my first real look at the wreck at the upper deck level and all I can remember thinking was ‘wow this looks awesome!’ The second thought that struck me was that it was very similar to the James Egan Layne.
The visibility was fantastic and you could comfortably see from one side of the wreck to the other. Due to its size, we had no chance of covering the entire wreck so just concentrated from just forward of the shot line to the bow.
There is a gap between the bow and the rest of the wreck and on our way back, you could feel and see the effects of the current picking up. We reached the shot line with a couple of minutes to spare so swam past it. When we did turn to go back it seemed to have vanished but an ascent to the top of the port side showed that the tide had fully turned and the shot line was angled away from the wreck rather than running across it. We left the wreck and started our ascent, picking up our strobes on the way up. We had just over thirty minutes deco to do but it was well worth it in my opinion. It’s a wreck that I would like to revisit at some time and explore it more extensively!
Friday 16th August
Dive 2. Hilsea Point
Due to the tides, we decided that a scenic dive would be better. We chose Hilsea Point as it can be dived at most states of the tide.
We had approximately an hour and forty five minutes surface interval before starting this dive so had our Cornish Pasties and a brew and chatted about the last dive.
Ben dropped the shot into the gulley and we were ready to go. The last time that we did this dive, the viz was truly amazing. This time it wasn’t as good in the gulley but soon improved once we had exited it and turned back on ourselves and headed into deeper water. The marine life was not as prolific as the last time but there was still more than plenty to see. We followed the rock face keeping it on our right side until it eventually petered out into lots of small gulley’s running out in a straight line from the headland.
We just did a slow swim along them and crossing over them as well as we spotted different things to see. There were plenty of Wrasse to be seen along with the usual crabs, lobsters and crayfish. These are really making a comeback along this stretch of coastline.
This time there was obviously no shot line so we all deployed DSMB’s when it was time to end the dive.
Once we were all back on board, we discussed our days diving and I was more than relieved that it had gone as well as it had considering the weather that had been forecast all week.
We stowed our kit as we headed back to the pontoon at the Mountbatten Centre as everything apart from cylinders and CCR scrubbers and heads was staying on it ready for Saturday.
As usual, we had planned to dine around over the weekend and Friday evenings venue was one that we knew very well as it had been our regular B&B for many trips until they closed their rooms last year. So it was off to the Boringdon Arms to say hello to Greg, Sue, Jordan and all the staff. We really like this pub as it’s in a lovely setting in Turnchapel just like the Clovelly. The area is so steeped in history. Obviously the topics of conversation over the evening were the days dives eventually turned to our plan for the next day.
This was going to be two of our usual marks. The early dive was to be on the Persier and the later dive was to be on one of mine and any others personal favourites, the Maine.
The weather was looking even better than had been forecast earlier in the week so we looked set to have a good day. Ropes off was to be slightly earlier than Friday at 9.00am but still a nice civilised time to start the day.
Saturday 17th August
Dive 1. SS Persier
The day started with perfect weather. Calm conditions coupled with pleasant sunshine. What more could we ask for. Twenty metre viz?
We headed to the wreck which is a WW2 casualty. She was sunk by a torpedo from U-1017 in February 1945.
The most prominent part of this wreck as in a lot of cases is the boilers. So this is where our skipper Ben dropped the shot. Although well broken up, this is still a great wreck dive with the boilers to the stern being the best direction to take.
We made our way slowly aft by loosely following the prop shaft which although broken at its flanges, still indicates the direction to take. As per usual, the wreck had a prolific amount of life on it. Pollack and Bib making up the majority of the fish life. There were also plenty of Crayfish and Lobsters to be seen.
Eventually the steering quadrant loomed into view. It still stands a good few metres proud above the massive rudder that lies on the sea bed to the starboard side. This area throws up great photo opportunities especially as divers can swim between the rudder and sea bed or get snapped next to the steering post or quadrant that still has some chain on it. The viz here was as good as we could have hoped for. We all agreed that it was easily ten metres. Once we had spent a fair bit of time looking around this section of the wreck, we started to slowly make our way back to the boilers. We were well within our allotted time so we made our way to the bow but in fairness, the stern is much the better area. We completed our swim to the bow then returned down the starboard side. I was hoping that we might have spotted a Monkfish as we have done previously on this wreck but sadly, not this time.
Back at the shot, we checked our time once more and agreed to make our ascent. We only had about three minutes of decompression to do so this flew over.
Back on board Size Matters, it was time for a brew and of course a hot pasty before heading very slowly to our next dive site.
Saturday 17th August
Dive 2. SS Maine
We have dived on the Maine just about every year that we have been going down to Plymouth. It is just one of those wrecks that you can never tire of! She is a big wreck at over one hundred metres long. She is a WW1 casualty having been torpedoed by UC-17 in March 1917 and although she has been on the sea bed for over one hundred years now she still retains her shape well and that is what makes her an excellent dive.
The visibility on the wreck this year was nothing short of excellent. You can see from the pictures below just how clear it was. The colour was such a vivid shade of blue. Not bad for ambient light at over thirty metres depth.
As with the Persier, it is the stern that is of more interest to divers. You can make your way through the holds of the ship and exit just behind the boilers. If you do venture further forward, there is still plenty to see including a huge mound of anchor chain and the port side anchor.
We bumped into Chris, Kate and Paul here and I could tell from the hand signals that they were giving me that they were clearly enjoying their dive. Its moments like this that make the hassle of organising trips well worth doing! After checking out the chain and anchor, that we turned and agreed to head back for the stern and the shot line.
As we reached the bow side of the boilers, we could clearly see our strobes flashing away on the shot line at least twenty metres away. That’s how good the visibility was on this dive. A quick check on our time showed that we were slightly ahead of schedule so we dropped back into the hold to take one last look and then swam out through the bulkhead nearest the stern.
We saw Steve and Gail doing similar to us and squeezing every last minute out of their dive which is fully understandable as it is just so good!
We collected our strobes on the way back up the shot line and joined some of the others also doing their decompression stops. The shot line did get a little bit congested at this point so a few of us came off it and held station just a couple of metres away. After completing our required stops, we surfaced in to some slightly rougher weather than we had started our dive in. It wasn’t uncomfortable though and Size Matters easily coped with the conditions.
It wasn’t too far a journey to get back to the Mountbatten Centre thankfully so we stowed our kit quickly because we needed to be fairly sharp getting showered and changed as we were heading over to The Barbican to eat.
We were making our third consecutive visit to The Fishermans Arms. The chefs here really do themselves proud. The food is excellent and the pub itself has a brilliant friendly atmosphere. The beer isn’t bad either lol.
Due to a problem with the water taxi pontoon at the Mountbatten Hotel, they were now running from the pontoon right outside the Mountbatten Centre so no more running along the quayside after a few beers in case we missed our ride.
Everyone agreed that the meals as per usual were top drawer and I’ve been instructed by the gang that we have got to eat here at least twice next year.
Our plans for the evening went a little bit awry because everyone was enjoying the night so much. We were going to head up to Plymouths oldest pub, the Minerva Inn but the clock was against us. Maybe we will make it next year.
Everyone was of the same mind that we had had a good night but it was time to head back so we all strolled back down to the wharf to catch the water taxi back over to Plymstock. We did call in to the Mountbatten Hotel and had a solitary drink there as the barman was intent on ushering us out and closing up at 10pm. Talk about not wanting peoples custom!
Sunday 18th August
Dive 1. Eddystone Lighthouse
It was to be an earlier start on the Sunday due to the fact that the weather was scheduled to close in so we would be racing against time. Ropes off if memory serves me correctly was to be just before 08.00hrs but we actually cast off a little bit earlier than scheduled. We must have been into the swing of things and getting slicker as the days passed.
It was a fairly pleasant trip out to the Eddystone which is approximately fourteen miles from Plymouth. When we arrived, Ben briefed us on what to expect and included advice on direction to take. He also informed us that he would drop a shot in to use as a guide because the kelp grows to a fair depth here due to the good water clarity and the shot line would help people with direction. In truth, it wasn’t needed but a nice touch all the same.
The shot went in and we could got our first chance to gauge the visibility. It looked amazing. Lets go diving.
Everyone now busied themselves getting ready and before long, declared themselves’ ready to go.
Chris, Kate and Paul led the way followed by the rest of us. My group were the last to go in.
Ben dropped us at the buoy and when I looked down into the water column it was definitely one of those sharp intake of breath moments! I could see Ray and Peter below as clear as day but knew that they were fairly deep already. It turned out that they were at 25 metres below us. The viz can only be described as awesome!
The second thing that struck me and it was what I was hoping would happen was that there were Salps everywhere. I had read the reports in the previous weeks that they were in evidence and hoped that they would be there for our trip. I wasn’t disappointed. It was like Salp soup!
Salps are planktonic tunicates that propel themselves through the water by contracting. This causes water to be pumped through their jelly like bodies. They also form long strings. Personally, I had never seen a Salp before so that was a first for me but I also think it was a first for everybody else in the group also. Our deco stop gave us ample opportunity to observe the Salps at very close quarters as there were just so many.
We surfaced to see our boat heading away from us. We realised that some of our divers had taken the second option for their route and gone the opposite way. The skipper from Red Alert offered to pick us up but we were more than content to just while away the time bobbing about on the surface directly below the lighthouse and reflect on just how brilliant a dive we had just had.
Despite this being a recreational trip, Ben had kindly given us the okay to extend our dives (within reason) if we so wished. But on this occasion, we all stuck to the hour rule as we knew that the weather was forecast to worsen as the day progressed.
Everyone clearly enjoyed this dive mainly due to the visibility. It rivalled anything you get in the likes of Egypt and the Mediterranean. Probably better in fact!
My group were the last to be picked up and once we were back on board, Ben then set course for our final dive of the weekend which was to be the James Eagan Layne. We were served up a lovely hot brew of choice and either a Cornish or Cheese Pasty which always tastes even better after an epic dive!
Sunday 18th August
Dive 2. S.S. James Eagan Layne
The JEL as she is affectionately referred to was an American Second World war Liberty ship that was torpedoed in March 1945 and eventually sank in Whitsand Bay. She is quite possibly one of the most dived wrecks in the UK.
Once on site, Ben dropped the shot in on just after the bow on the starboard side. Once down the line, it was quite simply a case of swimming into the wreck. The port and starboard sides of the wreck are still fairly intact but bulkheads etc are mostly missing having rotted away. This makes for a fairly easy dive as you can stay inside the wreck for most of the time and with good visibility, you can see both sides of the wreck which was the case on this particular dive. And the fact that you won’t get much more than twenty metres depth means that your decompression obligation is minimal.
There was the initial melee of divers when we first got on the wreck but that was quickly sorted out and the pairs and trios set off to explore the wreck. There is even the chance of going into one of the lower sections of the wreck which makes it a very enjoyable dive. We all worked our way towards the stern which unfortunately is well broken up now but compensates by giving you the chance to maybe see Cuttlefish or John Dory. I’ve seen both over the years. No John Dory this time but there were some Cuttlefish which quite a few of us saw.
Once again, Ben cut us some slack on dive time so quite a few of us spent more than an hour on the wreck. In that type of time, it is fairly easy to swim the entire length of the wreck both ways unless you decide not to which is what we did. For various reasons, we never normally venture outside of the confines of the wreck. This time though we exited the starboard side and swam along the wreck towards the bow and the shot line but we knew that we were going to deploy our DSMB’s anyway for the practice so it wasn’t imperative that we got back to it. It had been a really pleasant dive.
So that sadly signalled the end to the weekends diving and despite the weather predictions prior to travelling down to Plymouth, we all agreed that it had been an excellent three days. It’s said every year but we do think that this was probably the best diving that we have had there. This was primarily due to the visibility of course. We couldn’t really have asked for any better to be honest!
As we headed back for the pontoon at the Mountbatten Centre, all our kit was stowed away ready for offloading. It didn’t take us too long to clear the boat once we had docked due to some excellent teamwork from the group.
But it wasn’t quite yet the end of the weekend for most of us as the majority were staying one more night before travelling home on Monday. We had to wave Steve and Gail off as they had to be home due to work commitments this year.
All the kit was stowed in our vehicles. Some suits were left in the drying room rather than in the cars with the bonus that they would be nice and dry and the cars wouldn’t be quite as smelly for the journey home.
We were all done and dusted with plenty of time to spare so there was no need to rush getting ready for our final meal of the trip which was to be at Lacky’s Balti House. It has become a bit of a tradition to finish off here and then have a drink or two in the various pubs along the way there and back.
Once again, we had a really lovely meal here. I do hope that we can go back though as we forgot to take our empties with us. I’m sure that we will be forgiven.
It was a slow stroll back through Turnchapel for us now. We stopped off at the Boringdon Arms for a pint or two and to say our farewells to Greg and Sue who had been our hosts for quite a number of years. Sadly they no longer do B&B due to restrictions placed upon the building. It was good to see though that the pub is flourishing. Of the three in the vicinity, it is definitely appears to be the most popular.
So the night drew to an end and we strolled back to the MBC to get some much needed sleep before travelling home after breakfast the next day.
Everyone had thoroughly enjoyed their weekend which was a big relief to me. In fact they enjoyed it so much that each and every one of them has asked (read instructed lol) for me to look into extending next year’s trip by an extra day.
Mine and the group’s thanks go to Ben Kellett, our skipper for the weekend who was ably assisted by Robin on the Friday, Aaron on the Saturday and Freya on the Sunday. You were all brilliant so thank you all.
Merseyside SAC members on this trip were, in no particular order.
Steve and Gail McElroy, Jeff Jones, Peter Beaver, Andy Rath, Ray Cramer, Alan Jones, Paul Hughes, Chris and Kate Mills, Garry Bolland and myself, Terry Maloney.
Thank you to everyone that let me use their photos.
